Download Happy It's typical and customarily cheesy for couples to have a song that defines their relationship in some way. If the relationship works out that song usually ends up being played at the wedding reception at some point and evokes some kind of heartfelt emotion that two people have for each other. Millions of people have been tortured at wedding receptions over the years with these songs, most taking on the horribly trite and cheesy variety. I have to give credit to my friend Jared for writing his own song that he had played for his wife at his reception and I also have to give credit to my brother for not nailing himself down to one particular song - no dancing, just good conversation, good fun and good tunes on the mix CD. In compiling a list of songs to share, I discovered that I have a few songs that I would consider "our songs" with individuals I'm not romantically involved with in any way. Here goes: 1. "Size Too Small" - Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans 2. "Fix You" - Coldplay - X&Y 3. "Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key" - Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue 4. "A Million Parachutes" - Sixpence None the Richer - Divine Discontent 5. "Burn One Down" - Ben Harper posted 08.25.05
Matthew Ralph
Speaking of weddings. This pretty tune off of what I'd consider Sufjan's (sooph-yan) strongest record beginning to end to date brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it and takes me back to a lovely May day in 2004 when my best friend and big brother got married. "You were my best friend going at it all." My suit fit actually pretty nice and snug and I wasn't too uncomfortable standing up there in front of people, but this song still manages to capture that bond brothers and best man's share with the groom.
From the first time I heard the organ on this song and Chris Martin sing those words "at first you try and don't succeed" I was sold on the song. Simply put it's a great song with a nice build-up and a pretty soundscape, but it isn't really the strength of the song that has played such significance with my brother Dave Ralph and me. I think it was his introduction of it that immediately made the song so special. Since he was little, I've been always introducing him to music and telling him how great this or that song is, "dude, listen to this part" a catch phrase of mine. So to have him get all excited and tell me to specifically wait for the climatic point of the song when the big guitar riff and the crashing symbols come in made me so proud. Sure, I had bought him the CD as a graduation present, but he was the one telling me how good it was and the one imploring me to check it out.
This came out of a diner night, one of many late nights I've spent this past summer with friends or colleagues at a nearby diner. One night, talking with a co-worker of mine we both somehow started singing this song. Annie happened to have drove that night too and on the way home she hooked up her iBook with the song on it to her stereo and we sang along as we drove back to the office. A week or so later I mentioned to someone publicly with Annie there that it was our song. After I said it, I asked her if that was okay with her for me to refer to the song that way. She was way cool with it and said something about she'd rather it be attached to me unromantically than some jerky boyfriend in her past.
So Dave Ralph has two songs because he's special like that. This six-minute masterpiece became the theme song of an 11-hour journey the little brother and I took to Kentucky a couple years ago. Something about Leigh Nash's beautiful voice and Matt Slocum's acoustic guitar just captured our hearts and emotions as we drove through the mountains of West Virginia with the sun setting around us. Whenever I hear the song I can't help but be reminded of the beauty and the love we shared together in that car and how much of a blessing precious quality time can be when spent with someone you love.
This one goes out to a guy I haven't seen or spoken to in ages. Pete Sherry, wherever you're at, this one is for you. This percussion driven sing-a-log reggae tinged number was the theme song for countless hours in a VW driving around the Twin Cities visiting coffee shop after coffee shop ‹ Pete worked at like 50 different coffee shops it seems like at some point in time. Pete was an old roommate of my brother Mike's and man, was he into drinking coffee. These were the days when coffee shops in my native state of New Jersey were simply unheard of, so it was kind of a novelty for us to find so many cool places to chill and play board games. This song is all about carefree times visiting new places and meeting new people, seeing life from the backseat of a VW hatch back.
2004 White Elephant
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